Day 5

1 Peter 5:7- “Give your worries and cares over to God for he cares about you”

it is easy to hold onto what haunts us. I sure don’t need instructions on how to hold on tight to every one of them, especially for my loved one.

When a drunken text would light up my phone, my heart would begin to race, and then the panic would set in. This was generally the order of things. I wish I could say this only happened sometimes, but that would be a lie. I had well-meaning friends say, “Donna you shouldn’t worry”. If only it was that simple.

The only way I can truly give my cares to God and leave them there would be to believe that He is big enough to care for my loved one. I need to know that in the middle of the messiness of my son’s life, my Lord, my Good Shepherd, would truly be with him, every moment. Then I would have to say thank you as that was a way of acknowledging that now God had him and I know that while I may not be able to trust loved one in his current state, I could trust God who holds the world in His hands. The One who is all-wise and all-powerful stood near my loved one. Then and only then, is the giving over possible.

There is nothing about this that is easy, but it is possible. Whatever the worry or care, God says we ought to give it to Him. There is something much more comforting in the knowledge that the One we are passing this desperate worry and care over to cares for us and He cares for us perfectly and completely. Giving the care of something or someone very dear to us to someone who cares deeply is so much more comforting than passing that precious situation or loved one to someone who is indifferent. God is NOT indifferent – He loves and cares for us and for our loved one. He is big enough and He is faithful.

Dear Father,

I want to lay my loved one down before You today. I want to say thank you for caring for me and for this loved one who is very dear to my heart. You know all my fears and you see where my loved one is right now. Watch over him. Care for him in all the ways that I cannot. I so much want to rescue him, but I cannot. It is beyond me and the truth of this frustrates me so deeply. But, Father God, I come to You and continue to ask – please watch over my loved one today, wherever he is.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.